EUGENE, Ore. - The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Lady Lions volleyball team traveled to the west coast and faced three tough programs in the 2018 Oregon Classic.

In game one, the Lady Lions fell in three sets (25-12, 25-18, 25-9) to Long Beach State University. Junior outside hitter Kendalle Howard led the way with a team-high five kills while teammate junior setter Britney Sahlmann finished with a team-high eight assists and five digs. UAPB's Emily McCook chipped in with three kills in the loss.

"We came out intimidated and unsure of ourselves in set one," said head coach Dustin Sahlmann. "As we got acclimated, we competed better in set two, but as we have always done in the past, we don't use improvement as motivation to keep going and we got blown out in set three." 

Freshman middle blocker Charis Adefolarin produced a team-high two solo blocks and added a block assist and two digs.

In game two, UAPB lost in three sets (25-11, 25-19, 25-18) to Utah Valley University. Freshman middle blocker Haley Gomez finished with a career-high nine kills, three block assists, three digs and a game-high four reception errors while fellow Lady Lion Howard chipped in with four kills. Sahlmann finished with a game-high 20 assists while Howard added 12 digs in the loss but produced three reception errors. As at team UAPB hit .123.

"Again, we had a slow start, trying to feel them out," said Coach Sahlmann. "I believe that it is a product of having four freshman on the floor. In sets two and three, we showed marked improvement and we battled. It was nice to put two good sets back to back. Kendalle was all over the place defensively and Haley showed her potential that match."

In game three, the Lady Lions fell in three sets (25-10, 25-13, 25-7) to the University of Oregon. Howard finished with a team-high 10 kills, added seven digs but produced seven hitting errors while teammate Sahlmann finished with a team-high 18 assists. Sophomore libero Cheyenne Odgers finished with a team-high eight digs in the loss while fellow Lady Lion Gomez chipped in with five kills.

"We actually came out and competed hard in sets one and two versus the 18th ranked team in the country," said Coach Sahlmann. "Points didn't show it but I was proud of our effort and determination. This was a great weekend for our program. I saw great growth from last week to this week and I'm excited to see how we progress moving to week three."

UAPB (0-6) returns to action on Tuesday, September 4 as it plays host to Central Baptist College for the home opener. First serve is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. UAPB will play at the Convention Center until UAPB finishes renovations at H.O. Clemmons Arena.